Eyewitness Report: BLM Adoption Event in Okeechobee, FL
Recently, an AWHC volunteer attended a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) satellite adoption event in Okeechobee, Florida. She shares her observations of the conditions and experiences faced by the mustangs and burros during the event.
(March 1, 2022) The BLM adoption event in Okeechobee, Florida, was a somber experience for me. I was surprised to learn that the 55 mustangs and 12 burros had traveled from Utah, where temperatures were below zero, to Florida, where it was 85 degrees. According to BLM staff, they had a layover in Illinois for five hours before continuing to Florida. Many animals appeared thin, with dried mud clinging to their bodies.
We arrived at the facility on Friday at 11:30 AM. There were only a few horse trailers in the parking lot, but about 20 cars. Inside, there was no line for adoption, and around 25 adults and many children were moving around the six pens. Each pen held 10-12 horses or burros, generally staying as far from people as possible.
During our hour and a half visit, we saw nine horses leave. A group of five horses was adopted together, crammed into an old four-horse stock trailer. It took nearly an hour of loud banging and clanging to sort and load them. The horses appeared stressed and scared, as did all the horses in the pens during the process.
Most people seemed to be there just to see the mustangs, not serious adopters. No large horse trailers were seen. We left around 1:00 PM, wondering if activity would pick up in the afternoon.
I returned for the second day of the event from 11:00 AM to 12:45 PM. I was shocked to see no cars or trailers in the parking lot. I couldn't imagine all the horses and burros had been adopted. However, this was considered a successful event for the BLM, with only 10 horses remaining. These horses were quieter and even approached the panel edges to munch on hay. The atmosphere was calmer, with fewer people around.
It was another 85-degree day, and all the horses seemed more "tucked up," with at least three observed lying down and rolling. They didn't seem colicky but were likely trying to rid themselves of dirt and long winter hair. The horses became agitated whenever BLM staff walked down the alley to sort or perform tasks. Around 12:15 PM, one gelding was sorted and loaded by an individual adopter. It was a loud but uncomplicated process.
I was informed that the nine remaining animals (one Sale Authority, two Trainer Incentive Eligible, six adoption animals) would be sent to a BLM storefront in Bell, Florida.
On this second day, only a few people came and went. When I left at 12:45 PM, one family was still there, and BLM staff were packing up. The event officially ended at 1:00 PM, with the hauler ready to go.
By my count, 23 Internet Adoption mustangs were picked up, 12 burros were adopted or sold, 23 mustangs were adopted or sold, and nine horses were to be delivered to the Bell, FL storefront later that day.
It remains to be seen if any of these horses or burros will fall victim to the Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) and if our investigations team will identify them in the slaughter pipeline next year.